


Astraphobia

by arisanite



Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Au!Baby Hiddles, Baby Hiddles, CCF!Tom, Comfort, Couch Cushion Fort Tom, Cushion Fort, F/M, Fluff, Lightning - Freeform, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 13:37:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2152698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arisanite/pseuds/arisanite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a storm raging for two nights in a row, Sophie had to stay with her Uni buddy Thomas, before moving on to look for a new place to stay after being kicked out by her ex-boyfriend from his flat. However, after watching a creepy movie with Tom and her friends the night before – her best friend is about to discover that there is something more than long-blackhaired vengeful Asian ghosts that scares her a lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Astraphobia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smittentomkitten](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=smittentomkitten), [Ophelia_Tagloff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ophelia_Tagloff/gifts).



> For anyone not familiar with the term "CCF!Tom", this is a term developed (and originally owned by) [Smittentomkitten](http://smittentomkitten.tumblr.com) that describes the cutest version of Tom Hiddleston where he becomes an adorable dork.
> 
> Also, _Astraphobia_ is the fear of lightning.
> 
> Thank you to miss @Ophelia_Tagloff for helping me with this fic!

She stood there in front of the mirror holding her toothbrush.

Instead of promptly using it on her teeth, Sophie found herself looking nonchalantly at her reflection with an accusatory glare, as if she was expecting it to laugh ironically at her or something worse... Not as if reflections were supposed to do that when you glare at them...

If she was back in her old apartment (that wasn’t technically hers), she probably would have simply brushed it off and asked her supposed boyfriend to tell her that hopping-vampires don’t exist... But ever since that good-for-nothing-lying-cheating-scoundrel wouldn’t admit that she caught him in the nuddy-pants with her Humanities classmate Kayley; Sophie found herself out of living quarters for at least a month (until she gets to persuade her old roommate Jenn to get her back) and unhappily single.

Suddenly, the notion of getting face to face with an evilly grinning reflection with red eyes and sharp fangs was a better option than to go back to Wesley.

 

Shrugging, she just sighed and tried not to think about it.

But the moment she almost popped the waiting bristles in her mouth, a loud and _somewhat familiarly eerie_ sound started rapping outside the door –

Sounding just like a cross between a ticking gecko and a rusty gear –

 

Or probably the sound a dead Japanese girl would make when her neck is broken –

 

_Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk_

 

 

The brunette shrieked, letting her toothbrush fly right into the sink.

 

A whole sixty seconds later, she has flung the door open and found herself giving a lean boy with golden noodle hair the same glare she was giving her reflection earlier as he was bent over himself laughing, almost waving his bony hands around, completely forgetting that she was standing in front of his bathroom, nearly growling.

 

“THOMAS!”

He straightened up to smile at her, showing a nice set of pearly white teeth, and beady blue eyes tearing up from laughing.

“Sophie is such a scaredy cat.”

 

The girl opened her mouth about to retort at him about how he almost made her fling the only toothbrush she has with her right into the toilet because of his lousy attempt to imitate a vengeful dead Japanese girl – but upon realizing how her shriek must have echoed in the bathroom, Sophie just found herself slamming the door in Tom’s face.

“Oh come on, Soph!” The blond boy rapped his knuckles on the door as he leaned on it. “It was just a joke!”

Crossing her arms, the girl ignored his pleas as she also leaned on the door, sighing as she blew a gust of air, causing her bangs to bounce on her forehead, reminding herself who was the host for the night.

 

Oh Tom.

Good ole’ Thomas.

 

Sophie didn’t see how things would end up this way, but despite how much she hates herself for getting into this predicament, she was thankful that Tom is her friend. Probably several years older than her and was almost in his Graduating year, it was Thomas who was part of that School Org that was supposed to play as her “Older Brother”, helping her get through her first year in University.

At first she thought that he was one of those straight-laced Classics students who did nothing all day but prepare their speeches and bury their noses in textbooks, but once you get to know the guy you realize that there was too much of a goofball and a drama king trapped in such a beanpole.

But he had been more than the older mentor every student is praying for on their first day in school, whether he’s the one who warns you about the date rape drugs those bastards use in parties, or he’s the one trying to hook you up with the campus crush...

And Tom did deliver well having smuggled himself and Sophie (along with some other friends) in a lecture with a high profile professor that got them extra credit...

Not to mention it was also him who helped her get a copy of an expensive textbook for a Humanities class under a pretentious Educator who was selling his reading requirements online... Only for Sophie to find out that Tom had taken the class before and was just passing her the copy he painstakingly scanned almost a year ago...

In fact, it actually Tom who introduced her to what she believed to be the guy of her dreams for almost six months till a few nights ago...

And she ultimately declared him to the “bestest friend a broken-hearted gal could ever have” when she found out that his swollen knuckle and that bruised lip was the result of the man getting his vengeance for her...

But at that exact moment, as he was in mid-giggles and pleading, Sophie couldn’t consider him as the bestfriend she just called him a day ago.

“Come on Soph!” He called out from behind the door. “You can’t stay mad at me forever!”

 

_Silence.  
_

 

“Soph?”

 

Sophie ignored that deep baritone that actually belonged to a goofy blonde prankster and continued brushing her teeth. However, the moment she was done… she felt a shiver go up her spine when she saw a flash of lightning outside the bathroom window.

Of all the days when she gets kicked out of her ex’s apartment, it had to be on a storm season.

If she wasn’t willing to put up with Tom’s antics, she would probably be outside, wet, or probably bunking with a pair of whiny College Students in a lower dorm with the broken heater, noisy windows, and the power out. Thomas, on the other hand, was kind enough to offer her a temporary space in his little flat just outside the campus – a pretty decent flat considering that the bastard had been doing a lot of high-paying sidelines Sophie wasn’t aware about (and she ended up dropping her jaw six feet through the floor when she found out that the bastard was involved in high-profile productions and was training to become an actor). Between the notorious pranks and looking like a wet-kitten outside in the rain just after a breakup, Sophie found herself taking up his offer anyway.

Slamming the door open and striding out with her little button nose up in the air, Sophie walked past Tom who was wearing a silly little Cheshire grin as he held about three big bags of a mix of Cheetos, Doritos, and Lays.

“Want to watch another Asian Art film, Sophie?”

“I’m not talking to you.”

The blond noodle hair dropped his arms, almost letting the giant bags slide down to the floor as he slumped his shoulders and followed the girl to his living room, where she is supposedly camped out for the night.

“But Kitten –“

The long-haired girl quickly snapped around and almost thrust a finger in the six-footer’s nose.

“Do not _ever_ ,” she growled at him, prodding her finger on his chest, pushing his thin frame backwards (despite the man supposedly being _decently_ built underneath those big baggy shirts) with every movement of her hand. “ _Ever_ call me Kitten again…”

The thing was... _Kitten_ was what Wesley called her before they broke up…

And it was what he often coos to her after coitus in bed…

And just the sound of it nowadays boils her blood…

And for some reason it infuriates her hearing it from _Tom…_

“Okay…” he said in that thick English accent, something the girls from her class or their common friends would gush about… but hearing it just made Sophie sneer as she made her way across the room – walking towards that unoccupied room where his old friend James used to reside, before he graduated and eventually moved out for the city.

Moving about his apartment as if she owned it, Sophie actually had all the right to since her buddies (who happened to be common friends with Thomas as well) were there all the time – group studies, film viewings, drinking parties, name it and most likely they have done it. Except for orgies. Thomas said once he’d consider it – before being clubbed by Sophie on his noodle head.

“Is the gang coming over tonight?” Soph called over her shoulder, not even daring to turn around and subject herself to Tom’s stupid puppy-dog eyed expression… still following her like a wounded lab retriever with the junk food bags still in his arms.

“No,” he said in that sad little tone. “Everyone’s indoors with the storm –“

“Pity,” the girl muttered under her breath before entering James’s old room where she was supposed to pick up the spare pillows and blankets Tom said she could use during the few days while she’s waiting the storm out.

The man found himself still randomly pouting at the door she just halfway-closed in his face.

However, he was in the middle of thinking why Sophie was being bratty all of a sudden, considering that she literally jumped on him and hugged him (causing him to try and move away from her body when she wrapped her legs around his waist in midair, trying to hide _a natural_ reaction) when he offered her the chance to stay with him for a while… But then he realized how she almost disappeared in the corner of the room, huddled under a giant soft blanket in the middle of their movie-viewing, reminding him how much of a scaredy-cat she is when it comes to stuff like that…

 _Ah, maybe I overdid the Ghost Girl noises_ …

He thought to himself as a small smile spread on the side of his lip (completely ignoring how the room almost turned white in a second due to the lightning that flashed outside his bay windows), vowing not to get carried away again –

When all of a sudden the lights went out.

 

 

“ _Fuck!_ ”

 

 

The entire flat was plunged in darkness.

The moment Tom heard Sophie cuss in her room, he quickly called out how he was supposed to check the electrical room outside and that she just stay put. The woman didn’t reply, but he was aware that she was last in James’s room before the power disappeared.

“I’ll lock the door, sweetheart! I’ll be back!”

He was probably gone for five minutes or so, with a flashlight in tow, as he found himself speaking to the landowner, probably passing by a few old tenants who happened to be his friends, only to find out that the entire street (and possibly the entire block) didn’t have power… and the storm had probably downed the telephone lines too for them to contact the power suppliers. He may have even passed a slightly open door where a couple may be enjoying the cold weather _a little bit more than usual_ , considering by the faint moans that he heard… And for some reason, _this_ sent a trickle down the man’s spine…

Getting back to his flat, he was surprised that it was eerily silent when he closed the door behind him.

“Sophie? Darling?” he said as he took a step in the darkness of the living room, his eyes now adjusting. “Kitten, where are you?”

His words were interrupted by a flash of lightning.

Furrowing his brow in the dark, Thomas looked around almost scratching his head wondering if his friend went out without him knowing, and somewhat that made him worry momentarily, knowing that Sophie has nowhere else to go and the rain was too strong and –

A lightbulb appearing over his head, he quickly darted to James’s room… only to find two pillows splattered on the floor – beside a shivering figure under a blanket.

Now if Tom hadn’t gotten over his fear of those angry Japanese ghosts and had reduced his screaming fit (when he first saw it) into just mere tears in his eyes (after years and years of training because of the mockery of his sisters), he might have yelped upon seeing the figure crouched on the floor.

But then with the sudden flash of lightning and the way the figure huddled under the blanket quickly scuttled to another corner, seemingly terrified, Thomas quickly understood what was going on.

 

Bending down to touch the figure, he whispered, “Sophie, come out –“

 

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

 

Taken aback, he moved away from the muffled sound underneath the blanket… an offended look etched upon his face. But as the lightning flashed through the big windows installed in his ex-roommate’s room once more, he heard Sophie whimper underneath her poorly made little shelter, making him bite his lip out of pity.

Sophie barely noticed it but the pair of feet standing in front of her moved away and exited the room, as she stayed there shuddering, eyes tightly closed as she had her hands over her ears, trying to shut out the sound and the visual traces of lightning that may flash through the opaque material of the blanket that was draped over her.

Growing up without a mother and a father who left her as he worked, this was the only way Sophia managed to deal with her fear of lightning. She wasn’t able to overcome it as she turned eighteen, much to the delight of her friends who would have found out and teased her for it. Now on the condition that _they found out_ … Luckily, nobody really knew.

Except for Tom.

It completely skipped over her head that the prankster, the clown, the upperclassman who teased her too much _found out one of her phobias_ – that she found herself thinking that she’d be dead once all of this was over…

But she didn’t expect it at all how the man suddenly returned in her presence, as he knelt beside her, throwing the blanket off her shivering body, causing her to inch away from him even further. And he seemed to be holding… something…

_What…_

_Was it a video camera?_

_Was he going to video this disgrace?_

 

The sane voice she completely ignored in her head thought of these things, but she didn’t bother to even recognize them since fear was currently stronger than her logic.

But she was right, it was definitely a gadget…

What she didn’t expect was the fact he moved closer to prop something over her head, covering her ears… And next thing she knew, her head was filled with this retro music that would have probably made her look up and raise an eyebrow if she wasn’t shaking and silently crying to herself, wishing she would disappear, wishing that the rain would stop…

 

 

_Last night I had a dream about you_

_In this dream I'm dancing right beside you_

_And it looked like everyone was having fun_

_The kind of feeling I've waited so long_

 

 

Sophie stopped shaking…

And she felt the fear slowly ebb away, despite inching away from the hands that tried to pull her from under the blanket… as she found in the middle of her panic attack, someone had slowly shoved a small pillow underneath her… before slowly walking away…

 

 

_Don't stop, come a little closer_

_As we jam the rhythm gets stronger_

_There's nothing wrong with just a little, little fun_

_We were dancing all night long_

 

 

She couldn’t count the minutes but the moment the song shielded away the sound of the rain pounding on the windows, she suddenly began to rise from her crouched position, wiping away the tears from her eyes…

Half-cursing herself for letting her guard down, and half-terrified like that little eight year old girl hiding under the table twelve years ago; Sophie brought her head up from the tear stained pillow that had been effectively positioned under her, as she began to wipe her eyes… blurring her vision…

Half-thankful that she could now only feel the vibration of the rain through the flat… but most of it was just being drowned out by the techno-music playing in her ears…

And that was when Sophie realized that she was wearing Tom’s headphones… connected to a familiar-looking music player that was lying face down on the floor…

 

 

_The time is right_

_To put my arms around you_

_You're feeling right_

_You wrap your arms around too_

_But suddenly I feel the shining sun_

_Before I knew it this dream was all gone_

 

 

There was something about the song…

She couldn’t tell what it is but she knew she heard it before… But fear got ahead of her and seemingly blanked out her memory… as she began to rise from her feet, finding the courage to walk as she picked up the player from the floor, considering that the lightning flashes seemed to have died down… sinking the rest of the flat in darkness…

“Hello?” Sophie said in a small voice as she peeked in the living room.

It didn’t seem as dark as it was inside James’s old room… as there were probably two to three candles sitting on the coffee table just in front of the couch that was –

Was…

 

“Seriously?” the girl muttered, her eyes meeting with those bright blue eyes illuminated by the firelight as they rose up to greet her with a different kind of brightness… as he sat in front of this weird soft-looking mound, hoodie pulled up, shielding those golden floofs that sat on top of his head. “ _Seriously, Thomas?!_ ”

“I mean –“ Tom quickly interrupted, shoving the hood on his head backwards, making those curls _pop_ up. “Yeah, I’m sorry if Daft Punk on loop, but it’s what I’ve been playing lately and –“

“A fucking cushion fort?”

“I beg your pardon?” He said, squinting.

The brunette who was still somewhat half-swaddled in the blanket that was neatly-folded a few minutes ago in the other room, was peering from underneath the fabric covering half of her head, looking absurdly at her upperclassman who was seemingly trying hard to either not laugh at her… or burst out giggling. Sophie preferred that it was the former.

“Well,” started the blond man, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was contemplating… I do have sisters and they loved making these back when we were wee little chaps and…”

Sophie made a face as if she was sarcastically glaring at him, with one eye squinted.

“Em had a little fear of lightning too when she was a little ‘un and I was… was think that maybe a fort would…” The man who wowed the crowd when he delivered a live declamation of Hamlet in public during an Org Competition was looking like a little boy trying to find an excuse to why he was gluing his mother’s vase back into pieces. “You know, calm you down…”

In fact, this made Tom want to giggle out even more considering that she was now a foil to her previous predicament where she was this shivering little puddle of cloth on his ex-roommates’s floor, and he was just pleased to have good ol’ witty and sarcastic ‘Phie back.

“That is the most childish, immature, and the stupidest idea I’ve ever come upon –“

 

 

 

_KRAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!_

 

 

At that same moment, even before Sophie can finish her sentence, a draft must have come from one of the front door that Tom hadn’t closed properly, and have blown the candles out.

The boy quickly got up in his feet and struggled in the dark as he ran towards the direction of the draft and firmly shut the door, pushing it till he heard the safe click. Sighing as he leaned back against the wooden surface of it, he turned around and licked his lips... looking in the darkness... waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light... as he suddenly saw a few more flashes of lightning that illuminated the living room for a few seconds... making him realize that his guest had disappeared yet again...

Lighting a candle, he looked around... only to squint his eyes in confusion...

“Phie?” he mumbled. “Where are you?”

He stood up, looking inside the only two rooms of the flat... only to find it empty. Next thing he knew, he was worriedly looking under the sink, under the table, and maybe in one big cupboard...

“Phie...” he said out loud, in a desperate tone. “Where did you go...?”

Just when he was about to give up – he heard a whimper coming from the living room... the center of it. As he tried to understand how on earth a disembodied sob could be heard in his apartment, he realized that the grown woman who was currently acting like an eight-year-old girl was hiding in the last place he would expect...

 

“Sophie?”

 

Tom had crawled inside the cushion fort he built, the biggest he had done in years considering that he did get his hands on quite a lengthy (and spacious) couch that he had saved up for quite a while so it can house all his friends. Upon entering his soft fort, he found the swaddled little ball of cloth that would have stood up into this tall and self-possessed young woman if she only dared to stand up against the lightning... But of course, he wouldn’t dare her too. Not when she’s all fragile like this...

“Kitten?”

“I told you not to call me kitten...” answered that muffled voice underneath the white blanket.

The boy winced, occupying the other block of the sofa just right beside her, as he clutched a flashlight in one hand, letting his eyes adjust in the dark. “Yeah,” he murmured loud enough for the shivering girl beside him to hear. Remembering the fact that this was her ex’s pet name for her before they broke up caused the blond to roll his eyes in the dark. “Sorry darling...”

“Don’t call me that either –“

 

 

_KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM._

 

 

The girl barely finished her sentence when she was interrupted by the one of the things that she feared the most... causing her to shut up and shiver underneath her blanket –

Only causing her to shriek when Thomas suddenly opened the flashlight right to focus on his face.

 

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”

 

However, despite it all, the man was wearing a Joker-ish smile on his face compared to the worried look he was sporting earlier upon finding her on her knees, covered by a blanket on the floor.

“Is little Soph afraid of a little lightning?” Tom said in that award-winning voice that earned him a spot in the Horror Student’s Radio show every year.

“Sh-Shut up!”

Then came the man’s trademark chuckle... It sounded like this ridiculous little mocking laugh that filled the air, as if it came from this mocking little elf that went “ _eh eh eh eh_ ”... Unfortunately, even his hilariously loud laughter that could be heard within the fort couldn’t comfort the girl.

Snatching the light away from his face that made him look disfigured and menacing more than the Joker himself, Tom moaned, “Come on Sophie! Don’t be scared!”

“How can I be s-scared if you w-won’t stop teasing me?!”

A sigh was heard from beside her.

To her surprise, Tom gently ran his hand on the top of her head covered by the blanket... before gently pulling it down... revealing the girl’s tear-stained face, the headphones now sitting on her shoulders.

“Here’s the thing, little missy –“

By the time Sophie tried to dare look at him, glaring at him in the dim light inside the fort (with the flashlight pointing in a different direction, almost towards the exit of the little couch fort), she had to gasp realizing how low he leaned down on her – his face almost to hers. “Let’s play a little game –“

Tom licked his lips. “I’m gonna try and help you cheer up,” he pointed to her – almost poking her cheek with one long finger. “Get your fear of lightning out of your system. Now...”

Sticking the hilt of the flashlight in a small little hole of the sofa behind them, nestled in the crack to light up the fort wall that was in front of them, Tom found himself cracking his knuckles, ignoring the little teeth-gnashing, eye-rolling, and mumbling his friend was doing beside him.

“I’m gonna make you laugh, my little Soph. If you laugh –“

He bopped the edge of her nose, something that he often does when she makes a face at him or calls him an idiot. In response, she just ended up twitching it with much disdain and a bit of unexplained disgust. “Then you’re gonna lighten up and do me a _little favour_...”

“Now if you don’t –“

Sophie turned to glare at him with that half-scared, half-annoyed expression.

“Then I’ll leave you alone with my player and those headphones.”

“Fine,” Sophie muttered through gritted teeth as she sat up, wincing once more at the sound of thunder outside the window, still a bit audible even under a small space covered by a ton of cushion, polyester stuffing, and thick sofa fabric. “Do as you please...”

She was about to do a follow-up snark, but all of a sudden – she felt as if Tom wasn’t beside her anymore... as the silly old git was doing a laugh comparable to Goofy as he started making shapes with his hands in front of the flashlight behind them...

 

“ _Aheur-a-aheur-ahe-ahe-aheur-gaaaawrsh!_ ”

 

“ _Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!_ ”

 

He turned to look at the girl who looked at him as if he hit his head on a railing.

 

“Not impressed?”

 

Shrugging, the boy twisted his fingers yet again, unable to notice how the girl’s lip was beginning to twitch as he formed his hands that into the shape of a dog. Next thing she knew, she was palming her face as he started doing barking sounds, making the mouth of the dog move.

 

“ _Woof!_ ”

 

Sophie rolled her eyes.

 

“ _Woof woof!_ ”

 

Tom began to move his hand closer to her face, the shadow going out of focus.

 

“ _Woof! Love me Phie! Woof! Love me –_ “

 

“Tom –“

 

The English boy sighed and unclasped his hands, wondering how much more effort does have to exert just to get this girl to crack. Threading his fingers together, unable to notice the way the girl beside him suddenly shuddered at the sound of thunder heard again in a muffled _pooom_ outside their window, an ambiguous shape began to form from his hands in front of their little light in the couch.

 

“ _Oooh-ooh-aaah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!_ ”

 

Peeking from underneath her blanket, Sophie felt like pushing her so-called friend on the chest, wanting to tell him how much of an idiot he sounds by becoming a monkey. She was about to comment how it would probably be better if he turned into one, Tom began making the monkey speak like a normal person, going –

 

“Alreeeyht class,” said the shadow-ape, moving its shadow-mouth formally as it began to hover around the faint light. “I w’nt yer pay-pers turned in on M’n-daaahy before theh streeeeyk of dawn –“ He was speaking in this familiar Scottish Accent that belonged to Professor McNally who both taught Thomas and Sophia (but in different years) who was known for his ridiculous puns and that strong accent, not to mention the way he lugs around the classroom with his ape-like features –

And this made Sophie snigger.

 

Next thing she knew she was laughing out loud, flailing a free arm from the tangle of blankets – almost knocking half of the fort off.

 

By the time she began to recover from her laughing spree... Sophie felt her face drop upon seeing the person beside her wearing a big triumphant smile over his face, making her realize that he stopped making shadows almost five minutes ago...

 

“Told you I’ll make you laugh,” he whispered, before bopping her on the nose.

“Shut up,” Sophie hissed, her expression dropping yet again... but the blush on her cheeks unseen with the darkness in the couch-fort.

“I made you laugh!” Tom said in a high-pitched voice as he moved closer to her, almost snuggling her little figure on the edge of the couch. “Now where’s my reward?”

“I don’t remember giving you a rew—“

Much to Sophie’s dismay, she saw him in the faint light within the fort – curly golden noodle top turning his cheek in her direction, pointing to it, as if he was asking her – _no_ , he _was_ asking her to _kiss it_.

“—ard...” Sophie’s eyes widen. “You’re kidding me –“

“Come on’ Soph! Just one kiss!”

“TOM!”

“Just one harmless kissie! Come on, darling!”

For a moment, Sophie remembered the first time she kissed Tom on the cheek – a very platonic thank you – that happened while the rest of their friends were present. She remembered being jeered at and teased to a point she started to argue that it was just a sincere gesture of thanks – but what completely alarmed her was the fact that Thomas couldn’t stop blushing...

With that memory creeping back into her head, the girl couldn’t help but shake her head.

 

“But you promised...”

 

Tom’s voice and tone sounded so melancholy and defeated, it even sounded lonelier than the pitter patter of rain outside. He was about to turn away in disappointment, when Sophie – who was silently gritting her teeth and having a loud debate in her mind, suddenly sat up, closed her eyes shut, and aimed for his cheek –

 

_Smack!_

 

At that exact moment, Tom turned around to face her – possibly trying to convince her again, or to tell her to forget about the deal – but that moment he turned his face, the cheek Sophie was aiming for a kiss shifted and she accidentally placed a quick smack on part of the boy’s lips –

The girl quickly gasped as the blond unceremoniously raised his hand to touch his mouth...

 

“Sophie...”

 

The girl looked away horrified. “I didn’t me—“

 

The boy still seemed to be in a trance, holding his lower lip, where her mouth touched his. “I didn’t know that you... uh... yeah... that... oh my...”

 

“Shut up, _shut up_ , **SHUT UP!** ”

 

The girl pushed him on the shoulder, almost launching him away from her, and the quick movement from her arm caught the flashlight still hanging in the crook of the sofa, falling on the seat. Hurt and dejected, Tom was still holding his lip as the girl returned to her sitting position in the corner, legs up to her face while underneath the blanket with her hands folded on her knees... completely feeling stupid...

“Sophie...”

And that’s when another crack of thunder louder than the rest lashed through the room.

Next thing Tom knew, his body felt so warm, only for him to look down to find that same girl who made his heart drop down the acidic bile of his stomach, lying on top of him; as she was tightly clutching his shirt as she shivered against him, blankets, his player, headphones, and all...

He gaze dropped as he parted his lips, as he found himself stroking her hair ever so gently...

As slowly... Sophie began to stop to shudder...

Her fear of the thunder and the lightning still somewhat raging outside the flat suddenly being pacified with that soft thumping sound she can hear against the chest her head was resting upon...

But as she lay there, her own heartbeat slowing...

She couldn’t understand why the beats she can hear with her head pressed against his chest was becoming faster...

Gritting her teeth, realizing that maybe that one time when their friends wouldn’t stop teasing them suddenly held too much meaning towards the fact that her older best friend started blushing, and the fact that his heart was raising fast at very moment... Sophie suddenly found herself raising her head from his chest, ignoring how he looked at her with half-lidded eyes as she turned away...

“I’m sorry about that –“

“No,” Tom muttered quickly, before enveloping her in a hug, pushing her against his chest again, unable to notice how her eyes widened and how her pulse began to quicken once more... and this time it wasn’t about the thunder. “Stay, Kitten. Rest your head against me. Wait until your fear subsides...”

In the darkness, the girl wasn’t able to see how the man winced, realizing the fact that he called her _Kitten_ yet again... Completely forgetting how this managed to rile up the woman real bad... When all of a sudden, he felt a muffled voice echoing against his chest, as he felt his temperature rise upon feeling Sophia’s hot breath against his thin shirt...

“You keep calling me Kitten,” she said in a muffled, annoyed tone. “Even if I had to tell you over and over again how much I hate it because that is what Wesley called me when he tried to reason out with me when I caught him with Kayley –“

That’s when Tom found himself gritting his teeth.

Feeling him tense up, Sophie felt herself breaking from his tight hold for a bit... finding the power to look up from his chest to stare up at his face...

“Tom?” she whispered, suddenly feeling worried. “Are you al—“

His voice was somber, and his expression serious as he spoke. But Sophie then understood that he must have been harbouring an unusual hate for so long... considering he did sock Wes in the face. But it was the pain she could see etched on his face, despite the dark shadowing him, that convinced the girl that there was more than that...

“I was the one who called you Kitten first, love,” he bitterly whispered into her hair. “That stupid arse only started to do so when he heard me doing it...”

Sophie found herself opening her mouth.

“Wh-why?”

She wasn’t prepared at all with how the man suddenly looked down at her, his blue eyes clearly on fire despite the darkness in the fort and how the flashlight was upturned, filtering all the light. That boyish charm that was about the man slowly disappeared, as the younger woman became aware of this unusual hunger and this brimming passion that she swore she saw from him before... but never in its purest form...

And that was when he opened his mouth...

“I wanted you to be _my_ Kitten, darling...” he whispered, his breath touching her cheek now, causing her to shudder... forgetting about the sudden lightning that lit up the living room outside this little fort there were residing in.

Sophie’s eyes widened.

“I always wanted you to...” He continued, biting his lip. “But you never let me...”

The girl found herself tearing her eyes from the boy’s blue ones whose color could barely be seen in the dark... But then she found herself looking back at the times when this man, whom she’s holding on to with her arms wrapped around his neck, went out of his way to blatantly try to express those repressed feelings he had been talking about...

Yet he was right.

There were several times whenever Tom would call her _Kitten_ that she’d hiss and hit him on the chest. She even ended up shoving half of the bread she was eating while he was in the middle of trying to call her that monicker... But most of all what she realized as she looked at the man who tore his eyes away from her, trying to look somewhere else, what probably hurt him the most was during the time when he would call her Kitten and she wouldn’t even listen...

“You never told me,” she whispered, now noticing how close her lips were to his. “Why didn’t you? You could have told me –“ She gritted her teeth as she loosened her arms around him. “You could have saved me from that idiot Wes –“

“Would you?”

She turned to look towards his questioning eyes, as she felt a shiver run up her spine when she realized that he had wrapped his arms around her waist. “Would you have chosen me instead, Sophie darling?” The way he asked the question sent a shiver down her spine, causing her to gape at him as she found herself still clinging to his neck...

“I –“

 

 

_KRAAAAAAAAAAAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM._

 

 

Sophie hasn’t even finished her sentence when she was suddenly rendered helpless by the thunder that was so strong that it even reverberated inside of the fort. Completely tugging at Tom’s sweatshirt, she was almost deforming it, pulling it so low that his collarbones and part of his chest was revealed.

Biting his lip and seemingly making up his mind, the blond man unhooked the way she sank her claws into his shirt and gently tucked his hand underneath her chin, considering that she has buried her face in his arms... and carefully turned her frightened, tear-stained face in his direction...

He stared into her eyes for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to say earlier...

And you could say that Tom dared to hesitate upon what he was planning to do next...

But then Sophie saw his eyes flutter and her eyes could only widen when he brought her face closer and moved towards her, until she felt her lips trapped in a searing kiss that not even the sound of thunder can stop nor the heat of lightning can burn.

The way she hopelessly clutched at his shirt and the way she slowly felt like completely drowning in her arms just made Sophie realize that maybe... maybe there was something more to Tom’s eagerness to take her and their friends out to parties, a little more to his unscheduled study group appointments, and the fact the he defended Soph in front of an old teacher who told him that she was “just a freshman” after all her other professors said that she would go places...

But then again there was something in his smile and the way he would make her laugh like when he’d do those impressions, make those stupid pan flips whenever he would make waffles (as he always offered) for their study group in his flat, and how he always gets her to watch those silly movies with him on his couch...

Sophie couldn’t deny in her head that she felt the same as she finally closed her eyes and loosened the way she clutched the fabric of his sweatshirt... as her hands travelled upwards, threading in his curly hair as she slightly opened her lips and let him taste the inside of her mouth with that playful tongue of his...

He felt his brow furrow, realizing that maybe waiting and summoning his courage to offer his flat as her refuge after that awful break-up was worth it... Tom finally found the power to forgive himself for not trying to shield Sophie from all that horror her ex could deliver, as he gently kissed her with much ardour, not hiding his feelings anymore, showing her everything he had been concealing for the past two years...

Releasing her mouth with a smack, he found comfort and relief on her face as he couldn’t help but smile himself...

“Well,” he said softly as he leaned closer and nuzzled her nose, savouring the way her hands were hooked to his shirt, as he ran his hands up the arch of her back. “That seemed to be quite a lot for you...”

Catching her breath and running a finger on his cheek, considering that his forehead was pressed against hers; Sophie couldn’t help but savor that lingering taste of his on the tip of her lower lip...

“I guess...” she raised her eyes to meet his, finding a whole new sanctuary inside the man who used to be just a goofball in her eyes. “Why would you think so?”

Tom chuckled. “You didn’t flinch during the three more strikes of lightning and the deafening thunder that followed after while you were snogging me...” He bit his lip. “I must have cured your fear of lightning, my dear...”

Sophie gaped at him, completely being rendered still.

What he said was true, after all.

Closing her mouth, she looked down... completely turning red, but completely unnoticeable in the darkness of the fort... not to mention how she was almost sitting on his lap, with her arms still laced around his neck, her fingers tangled in his hair...

“Thank you,” she whispered softly, trying not to meet his gaze... knowing that for the two of them, it will never be the same again.

But then again, instead of the awkwardness you would expect...

Tom suddenly leaned closer, nuzzling her cheek, causing her heart to flutter. Daring to look him in the eye, Sophie did not expect that she’d be burned down by the flames of the passion that he was clearly intending to unleash on her...

“How about I make sure that you never have that fear of thunder again,” he whispered in her ear, the hot breath from his mouth causing her to shudder. “Would you like me to help you get rid of that phobia forever, darling?”

The woman narrowed her eyes up at him... but she found herself gasping as he felt his hands slowly stroking the curve of her back... one of them slowly making their way towards the front of her torso, only to trace the curve underneath her breast just above her abdomen...

There was a whole new fire in Sophie’s eyes when she dared to look at his mischievously grinning face...

“ _Please_.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

The deep guttural noise of thunder echoing throughout the flat had probably gone on for a straight thirty minutes, ever since the lightning flashes stopped in unison with the rain... only for the storm to begin again anew.

Reports came again and again for people to stay indoors, and that’s what the residents of the building did, after the landlord knocked at every door informing everyone of the availability of goods that his tenants could take from the main office. However when he got to the room of that bumbling yet very promising Senior from Cambridge, he knocked on his door but got no answer. So the elderly landlord just shrugged and told himself to give the young man a visit in the morning... considering he was probably asleep...

...but that’s what he perceived to be the case.

Inside, the flat stood still... the living room being lit up repeatedly by the lightning outside, thunder raging all over the walls...

But no girl could be found shivering in a room, nor covered in bedsheets and forced to listen to a song in an old player...

As far as we’re concerned, she’s still in the fort – her hands pushing up against the cushioned walls, threatening for it to fall as she has been pried out of the blankets and lain flat on them... As she has also been freed from her tiny shorts and her shirt raised up to reveal such pert breasts being gently lighted by a fading flashlight... while a golden-haired male has his mouth all over her chest, his curls brushing lightly against her skin as he suckled wildly against her perked up tits... his long slender fingers earlier being used to cheer her up... was now making her moan as they worked their way in between her legs...

With the pleasure completely hounding her head, she completely forgot about the raging storm outside as the only tempest that was taking over her was that orgasm that was slowly threatening to claim her with how her friend moved his fingers within her folds...

But then she let out this small cry of retort when he withdrew his fingers from within her... suckling on his long digits in the dark as he prepared himself for her, pulling his gym pants down. Sophie was close to moaning her displeasure in the dark...

When she suddenly had to cry out, throw her head back against the blanket underneath her head... when she felt an enormous girth enter her cunt... filling her to the brim, causing her to expose her neck as she screamed... Only for her newfound lover to bend himself over her to hush her with his mouth coming into contact with hers...

“Don’t make the neighbours jealous, my love,” Tom whispered as he winced in the dark, trying to adjust his position as he rutted within her. “On second thought,” he said, furrowing his brow, as he positioned both his hands on her hips, slowly pulling out before slamming back into her again with one swift stroke, causing her to moan so deeply, it aroused him so much it rattled him to the core. “Let them all know how much you’re enjoying this, _Kitten..._ ”

 

“Tom –“

 

“Ungh!”

 

“Oh God –“

 

 _Thrust_. “Hngh!”

 

With every buck of his hips, Sophie’s legs would twitch on the sides of his hips... causing him to rut harder into her, fuelling that sexual fire within him as he watched the girl he’d always wanted to make love to throwing her head back, pressing her cheek against the blanket underneath her head as she turned her head and bit her lip, her body bucking with every thrust he would give her...

Considering that he wasn’t really Sophie’s first – Tom was relieved that he didn’t have to hurt her in the process... but he regretted the fact that he wasn’t the one whom she’d open herself up to the first time... Making him wonder if her ex had been too rough on his _Kitten_ , pinned her down, hurt her, and probably took her at times when she didn’t want to...

This drove him closer to her then, as he took both her legs that were dangling against the sides of his hips up to his chest, before putting them together and placing them both on one side... allowing him more access within her as he managed to grip her waist harder.

Leaning closer to her as he pressed his forehead against hers... He felt his heart flutter when she opened her eyes... daring to look at his hungry blue ones...

“Sophie...” Tom breathed amidst the sound of thunder that no longer made her flinch. “Let me ask you a question...”

The girl let out a gasp when he hit a delicate spot... before he pulled out halfway again only to slam into her again. “What is it...”

“Can he...”

He rutted into her again, as he winced, trying to remember his train of thought, despite pleasure making his head hazy.

“Make you feel...”

_Thrust._

“Just like...”

Thunder came just in between his question, and Sophie can only wait with bated breath.

“This?”

The girl gritted her teeth as she felt her hands climb up his back, pulling his shirt up... so she can run her fingers on the surface of his skin, following the curve of his spine... causing the man to fuck her harder, slowly and intensely to the sound of thunder roaring outside...

 

 

“No...” she whispered, gulping.

 

She couldn’t see it, but a devilish smile began to form on his face.

 

“Is his cock...” he gritted his teeth as he pressed his body against hers. “This big?”

 

Sophie didn’t know whether if it was the thunder that clouded her brain and quickened the din in her ears, or it was the onset of her orgasm, blocking out the rest of her senses... and just giving her that pounding feeling of pleasure flowing down her veins... from the tip of her fingers... down to the throbbing girth repeatedly invading her and taking over her sensations...

 

“No!”

 

It would have been enough for Tom to lose his mind as he growled underneath his breath and took both her thighs pressed together against his crotch... as he parted them again and wrapped both of her legs around his waist, giving him more access to her cunt. Bending over her they could hear the storm picking up pace outside, the thunder getting louder... in sync with his growing thrusts as he completely pressed his half-naked body flat against Sophie’s exposed chest...

And what drove Sophie insane was with his fierce thrusting... the walls of the fort began to crumble...

And when he managed to slide her backwards against the edge of the couch with the powerful buck of his hips... the fort finally came crashing down on them... Just in time for a loud banging thunder echoed outside the window...

Like a dominant alpha male, Tom rose from the cushion rubble and threw them off his back and off the woman he was fucking... before he ended up shoving the flashlight on the floor, as he got a better view of Sophie’s beautiful tits heaving with his every thrust... Her face etched with much sensual pleasure as he continued to fuck her as much as he wanted... the emotion on her face slowly pushing him to kiss her feverishly once more, only to pull on her lower lip with his teeth...

And as he slowly raised himself up again...

The woman was rewarded with the vision of Tom being lighted by lightning for one second...

His exposed torso that boasted that defined muscled chest and those chiselled abs that he turned out to be hiding under baggy shirts the entire time...

 

And to top it all off a hungry predatory look on his face that was lit up again by lightning...

 

As a powerful thrust came in time with the rumbling thunder...

 

“Sophie,” he whispered in between thrusts. “Mark my words...”

He then slowly lowered his face towards her again, as she began to whimper with how his hips started to pick up the pace, following a rhythm her heart cannot beat with anymore, as she could feel that he was close... but she was much closer...

“I will make sure that the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning,” he whispered, his mouth dangerously close to hers, as he tangled his fingers in her hair. “Will only remind you of this...” He gritted his teeth. “How I fucked you and how you will want anything else _but me again_...”

 

He groaned. “My _Kitten_.”

 

Her pupils dilated in that split second of lightning. “Tom –“

 

She completely lost herself after that as the man pressed his lips down against hers, suckling wildly on her mouth as he drove her to orgasm... muffling her screams of pleasure as her body slowly went limp within his arms...

He continued driving his cock within her, feeling his body tremble the moment he felt her clench around his girth once or twice... as he repeatedly rode her own climax till he came to terms with his own, filling her to the brim...

 

 

Minutes later they were a heap of lovingly tangled limbs upon each other...

 

 

As Sophie slowly came back to herself only to find him gently kissing her cheek and her temples... his delicate fingers playing with her hair as she slowly watched Tom transform back from that sexy primal beast into that dorky little puffball with golden curls that she never realized was so _adorable_ from the start...

Not pushing him away or rejecting those advances she always seemed to have ignored from the start, she just laid still in his arms and savoured his little kisses and ministrations, as she slowly came to terms of that fact that she found a new safe haven within a person... No longer needed that literal comfort blanket that she covered herself with during the start of the storm... as she found herself looking in Tom’s eyes and finding her sanctuary hidden within a whole other person...

And as she watched him smile, she never realized how she was fond of him...

Till that exact moment.

“What are you thinking about, Kitten?” Tom asked sweetly as he propped himself up on one arm, letting his head rest on a hand.

She turned to look at him, realizing now she had to blush whenever she would look into those blue eyes... “Nothing,” she found herself saying automatically, like what she usually would whenever he would ask her what she’s thinking about.

“Oh that wasn’t _nothing_ –“

“I was...” she sighed. “I was thinking if I should...” She bit her lip. “Probably tell Jenn that I’m not moving back in anymore...”

Blinking in his direction... Sophie suddenly felt her newly reformed heart sink down the crevices of her disappointment as she watched the smile melt from Tom’s face... making her think that maybe she went too far just when everything was still starting...

But then he did this silly thing of pursing his mouth and looking away, completely ignoring that crack of thunder that happened outside.

She was secretly pleased that it barely bothered her now...

And she knew she wouldn’t be bothered by it as long as her best friend was around...

“Are you implying that you want to stay with me?” the blond inquired.

Sophie bit her lip and looked away, before nodding.

To her relief, she saw a bright smile spread upon the man’s face... what she didn’t see are those happy tears forming on the corners of his eyes as he suddenly hurled himself towards her and hugged her tight, causing her to squeal the moment he nuzzled her collarbone... starting up that warm fluttery feeling inside of her again...

“Oh I’ll love that, Kitten.”

She looked down, her heart pounding faster than it always has... but then she turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

“Are you really going to call me Kitten now?”

He rolled his eyes. “I have called you Kitten before...”

“Okay, okay,” she mumbled. “You can call me Kitten, but not in public.”

Tom sat up, a mischievous smile on his face. “Are we making lovers’ rules now, darling?”

Sophie narrowed her eyes at him, trying not to be bothered (or aroused) by the fact that he was still half-naked, his flaccid cock still limp against his thigh, with his chiselled body still exposed for her to gape at...

“No,” she mumbled as she shook her head. “I just –“ She gritted her teeth. “I just wanna make sure that I won’t drive myself insane while I’m living with you –“

“Really,” he teased. “What drives you insane anyway?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“That’s not fair!”

“I’m not falling for that –“

“This isn’t about me dancing to ‘Friday I’m In Love’ while wearing only a ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron, is it?”

Sophie would have gotten away with it since it was dark when she blushed, but she gave herself away completely when she covered her mouth and glared at him.

Much to Tom’s delight, he only heard her squeal when he quickly kissed her cheek and gathered her in his arms, nuzzling the tip of her head with a content smile on his face...

“I love my Kitten.”

She knew it was too early to answer that but Sophie just turned her head up and took his lips in a passionate kiss... knowing that Tom was able to solve more than three problems that day as she closed her eyes and buried her head against his chest, knowing brighter days lie ahead despite the expected weather forecast.


End file.
